Sean's Russia Blog

The Litvinenko Bandwagon

I wonder if the “famous people always die in threes” applies in Russia because it appears that according to some the Litvinenko poisoning is beginning to inspire a rash of mysterious illnesses among Russia’s rich and famous.Or so implies the Financial Times in regard to the “mysterious illness” that has befallen Yegor Gaidar.

One should say that FT didn’t come up with this all on its own. The Litvinenko connection is being fed to the press by Anatoly Chubais.“It is unquestionable for me that a mortal construction of Politkovskaya, Litvinenko and Gaidar, which did not come into being by miracle, would have been exceedingly attractive for supporters of unconstitutional scenarios envisioning a change of power in Russia by force,” Chubais noticed.

According to reports, Gaidar fell violently ill after eating breakfast at a Dublin hotel.

“I rushed after him and found him lying on the floor, unconscious. He was vomiting blood and also bleeding from the nose for about 35 minutes,” Ms Genieva [who organized the Dublin conference Gaidar was scheduled to attend] said. Mr Gaidar was taken to JamesConnollyMemorialHospital in Blanchardstown, where he was treated overnight. The following morning, Mr Gaidar had asked to be discharged and, after a visit to the Russian embassy, was put on a flight back to Moscow.

Gaidar declined to comment on whether his illness is the result of any nefarious wrongdoing.

I’m surprised that Suleiman Kerimov’s, (who happens to be a Russian businessman and the 72nd richest person in the world) wrapping his Ferrari around a tree in Paris hasn’t generated in theories of sabotage.